TNI asks for tipoffs to help nab bombers
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto urged the people on Monday to help the country's intelligence agencies in the fight against terrorism by providing more information about suspected terrorism activities in their neighborhoods.
Endriartono said it was unfortunate that since the fall of the Suharto regime seven years ago, people were now more reluctant to share information with intelligence units.
"Intelligence (officers) can only maximize their roles in preventing terror attacks if the people provide support and information. In the past, people would come to military offices and share information about suspicious things around them.
"But nowadays ... the military and its intelligence activities are frequently condemned by the people. And, indeed, sharing information with intelligence officers has become (seen as) something cheap," Endriartono said on the sidelines of a rehearsal for the commemoration of Wednesday's TNI Day at the Halim Perdanakusuma military air base in East Jakarta.
His remarks came amid criticism of the poor performance of intelligence agencies in the wake of the weekend bomb blasts in Bali, which killed at least 22 people and injured more than 100.
"In many (terrorism) cases, we see that residential areas have become camps where members of certain groups make homemade bombs. I don't understand why the communities (in these areas) have failed to inform security officers when they witness such suspicious activities," Endriartono said.
The remarks drew criticism from civil rights activists, who said military intelligence officers should not be able to mobilize civilians to spy for them because it was not their role.
"We must, from the very beginning, guard a system which enhances the roles of the police to deal with terrorism issues. Also, the recent Bali blasts should not pave the way for the military to enter the police's domain and to take away people's civil liberties," said Rachland Nashiddik, an executive director of Indonesian human rights watch Imparsial.
Usman Hamid of the National Commission on Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) said that civilian participation in the war against terrorism was possible but should depend on the condition that "they were involved as members of a team investigating a terror attack, and not as informants to intelligence officers."
"The involvement of civilians in the investigation process will help ensure security forces carry out their jobs seriously. This seriousness is necessary to (help) prevent more attacks," Usman said.
Usman called on the National Police and the State intelligence Agency (BIN) to provide transparent data about the use of millions of dollars in funds provided by donor countries aimed at supporting efforts to curb terrorism nationwide.
"If the intelligence community has properly allocated the funds, there is no reason for them to complain about their weaknesses by blaming civilians for not supporting them. They (the intelligence agencies) have adequate funding and also legislation that grants them extra powers," Usman said, referring to the Antiterrorism Law which enables the police to arrest suspected terrorists for up to 72 hours without charging them.
Meanwhile, the Speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly, Hidayat Nurwahid, urged President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to evaluate the performance of BIN and other intelligence units in the wake of the Bali blasts, arguing that the incidents could have been prevented if the intelligence system was working properly.
However, Hidayat also warned that any moves to rashly increase the powers of intelligence agencies in the country would likely undermine democratic and civil liberties.